Not applicable.
(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the provision of levees and similar revetments for the control of flood water, and is directed more particularly to the provision of essentially portable revetments which may be rapidly deployed to and installed in areas of flood control need with relatively little labor.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
It has long been known that earthen levees or revetments of concrete, or the like, provide protection from floods, particularly along rivers and other waterways. However, weather often presents higher crests than such structures are designed to handle, or batters such structures, particularly earthen levees, until breaches occur, leading to flooding, causing immense damage and often loss of life of people and animals.
The repair of breached levees is extremely labor intensive, slow, expensive, and unreliable.
There is a need for a revetment which is collapsible and readily transportable to an area threatened with flooding by virtue of rupture of, or non-existence of, levees. There is further a need for such a revetment as can be relatively easily put in place where needed. A still further need is to provide such a revetment as can be erected, once in place, by relatively few people in quick order to provide a bulwark against rising river crests, high tides, and the like.
An object of the invention is, therefore, to provide a collapsible and transportable revetment susceptible to rapid transport to a threatened area.
A further object of the invention is to provide such a revetment as is easily placed where needed.
A still further object of the invention is to provide such a revetment as can be erected in short order, by a small number of people.
A still further object of the invention is to provide such a revetment which, once in place and erected, is adapted to stand against high water pressures of rising rivers or tides, or the like.
With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, a feature of the present invention is the provision of a portable flood control revetment comprising an elongated collapsible and inflatable tube of flexible material impervious to air and water, the tube having a bottom wall and other walls defining an internal compartment, and a multiplicity of cables in the compartment, each extending from one of the walls to another of the walls to hold the tube in a selected shape when the tube is inflated with air or filled with water. The bottom wall defines at least one pocket for receiving a corresponding hold-down member, and at least one other of the walls is provided with a closeable orifice means for permitting flow of air and water into and out of the compartment to respectively inflate, fill and collapse the tube.
The above and other features of the invention, including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular device embodying the invention is shown by way of illustration only and not as a limitation of the invention. The principles and features of this invention may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention.